Virtual element approximations for distributed or Neumann boundary optimal control problems governed by poroelasticity equation

Abstract

This paper investigate the conforming virtual element method for the optimal control problem governed by the linear poroelasticity equation. Both distributed control and Neumann boundary controls are considered with the optimize-then-discretize approach. We establish the well-posedness of the discrete state and adjoint problems in three-field formulation by deriving the first-order optimality condition. The optimal a priori error estimates are developed through a novel poroelastic projection for both control problems, and these estimates are uniform with respect to the relevant physical parameters of the model problem. Moreover, the numerical experiments are carried out using the primal dual active set strategy, and demonstrate the support for the derived theoretical results.